The Eagle newspaper earns fourth consecutive state award for overall excellence
Chadron State College’s The Eagle student newspaper won its fourth consecutive “Best in Overall Excellence” award in the newspaper division of the Nebraska Collegiate Media Association’s annual Golden Leaf Awards on Saturday at Hastings College in Hastings, Neb.
The Eagle’s website, csceagle.com, was awarded second place in Excellence in Digital Medium. Web editor Hannah Clark, of Littleton, Colo., led with five individual awards: two first place awards, a second place and two honorable mentions.
The newspaper division competition included 19 separate categories covering writing and visual presentation, such as design, layout and photography. To be eligible, entries must have been published between March 1, 2013, and Feb. 28, 2014.
Mike Kennedy, journalism Instructor and adviser for The Eagle, said judging was performed by professionals outside of Nebraska
Students from the NCMA’s eight member schools who competed earned points for their respective newspapers for placing first (5 points), second (3 points) or third (1 point) in each of the 19 categories. Honorable mention awards did not earn points. The points each student earned was totaled to determine the rankings.
The Eagle staff entered 18 of the 19 categories with 11 students scoring points in 16 of the 18 categories they entered. The 11 individuals earned eight first place awards, eight second place awards and seven third place awards, for a total of 71 points.
Wayne State College’s Wayne Stater finished second in the best overall category with 44 points and Doane College’s Doane Owl in Crete finished third with 35 points.
The Eagle’s Managing Editor, Ashley Swanson of Byron, Neb., led the CSC competitors with nine awards: two honorable mentions, five third places, one second place, and one first place in sports photography.
Former Executive Editor, T.J. Thomson, of Golden, Colo., who graduated from CSC in May 2013, earned six individual awards - an honorable mention; three second places, and two first places. He shared one of those first-place wins, for the Hard News/Spot News reporting, with Reporter Celeste Lee of Chadron, and Photo Editor Teri Robinson of Alliance.
Robinson also earned first place in news photography.
The Eagle swept the Advertisement Design category, with Advertising Director Arielle Boone of Buffalo, Wyo., capturing first and third places, while former Ad Director Kristina Harter of Colorado Springs, Colo., who also graduated in May 2013, took second place.
Robert “Spike” Jordan, who served as opinion editor in spring 2013, and managing editor in fall 2013 and part of this term, earned three awards: an honorable mention and second place in editorial writing, and first place in editorial cartoon.
Sports Editor Jordyn Hulinsky of St. Paul, Neb., earned second place in Sports Reporting and shared an honorable mention with Swanson in Hard News/Spot News reporting.
Leala A. Lewis of Chadron, won first place in Feature Writing.
The Eagle earned three staff awards, including first place in the Overall Layout & Design category. In the Series/Special Section/Edition category the staff captured second and third place for its winter storm Atlas and presidential inauguration special editions, respectively.
Judges for the competition include the following: Robert Sharp & Associates advertising agency, Rapid City, S.D., Advertisement Design; Alan Vitello, freelance cartoonist of Denver, Cartoon; Wayne Thomas, of Powell, Wyo., a freelance photographer and Associate Chair of the National Press Photographer’s Association’s Region 9, Feature Photograph and Photo Illustration categories.
The remaining 15 categories were judged by professional editors from The Topeka (Kansas) Capital-Journal; The Gazette, Billings, Mont.; The Rapid City (S.D.) Journal; The Star-Tribune, Casper, Wyo.; The Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne, Wyo.; The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo.; and The Coloradoan, Fort Collins, Colo.
Category: Campus News